In earlier decades it was expected that an employee joined a company for the long term and a company hired with the expectation of having a long term employee.

Not so today. Employee loyalty and employer loyalty is minimal at best.

Have work ethics changed?

Is this further evidence of a change in work ethics, a lack of work ethics or an entitlement society?The recent EPA scandal brought employee and manager productivity into the spotlight. Employees were accepting paychecks for months or years with no productivity. Managers were continuing to pay the employees with total disregard for the fact that no productivity was generated. Either the manager was negligent or simply did not care – no work ethic or loyalty to the company. The employee who blatantly accepted a paycheck for doing nothing either had no work ethic or an entitlement mindset.

If you are like me, you find this behavior not only shocking but discouraging.

Job hopping

Job hopping is the new normal. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average is 4.4 years for an employee to stay in each job. “Ninety-one percent of Millennials (born between 1977-1997) expect to stay in a job for less than three years, according to the Future Workplace ‘Multiple Generations @ Work’ survey.”

Not just the length of time, but also the quality of work productivity during employment has changed. What is the quality of work if the employee needs five years to reach peak productivity at a high level position and they are already looking for the next position after three years?

Examine the reasons behind the employee job hopping. Business Insider reports that executives are willing to take the risk and start their own companies in order to have the freedom to run the organization their way. This freedom and control circles back to disliking the way their current boss is conducting business. It also indicates that they do not feel empowered or acknowledged for their current contributions to the company.

Job hopping or starting their own business is not as much a reason for quitting as it is a solution to the first four issues.

Potential solutions

Clear, complete and current job descriptions will clarify an employee’s responsibility and eliminate “misunderstanding.” Having clearly defined job descriptions will also assist the manager in knowing not only their duties but also the responsibilities of the employees under their supervision.

In the EPA case some managers theoretically thought the employee was actually in a different department. That “misunderstanding” can be eliminated with clear lines of responsibility.

Reinstate a culture of high work ethics

Responsibility, accountability and productivity are valid expectations from both employers and employees.

High work ethics helped build this marvelous country of United States and high work ethics will uphold and advance our future.

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Originator, Owner, Broker, and CEO
Consultant to the purchaser October 2000 - August 2001
Leading a successful customer-service oriented business from idea conception through implementation and increasingly successful execution.
Started Mountain Castles with $4937.32 capital and developed it into a corporation of slightly less than $1,000,000 gross annual sales in eleven years. Winner International Innovator of the Year.